Heart doctors and their allies want a full and expanded coverage of cardiac rehabilitation in the Philippine Health Insurance package, citing cardiac rehabilitation starts the road to recovery and revitalization.
Dr. Richard Henry Tiongco II, Philippine Heart Association advocacy chairperson, also called on the health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to give a wider coverage of the cost of cardiac rehabilitation program.
During the PHA Usapang Puso sa Puso Forum on Cardiac Rehab Special, Tiongco, along with Dr. Luigi Pierre Segundo, co-chairperson of the PHA Communications Committee, raised concern for government and media support by giving the national health concern extensive mileage.
“Those having cardiac arrest are getting younger and younger at their reproductive age. That is why we need the care of doctors providing rehabilitation,” he said.
After a heart attack, there must be rehabilitation at once, he said.
The vulnerable populations are recommended to undergo cardiac rehabilitation because it significantly speeds up recovery, improves the quality of life, and reduces mortality, the PHA said.
A cardiac rehabilitation team includes doctors, nurses, exercise specialists, physical and occupational therapists, dietitians, and even mental health specialists.
There are only 22 hospitals in the country that have a cardiac rehabilitation unit mostly located in Metro Manila.
Compliance rate is only from 10 to 15 percent among heart attack and heart failure patients in the Philippines, heart doctors lamented.
Tiongco said the PhilHealth subsidy is limited to the patient’s days of confinement at the hospital, while the rest of the remaining thrice-a-week sessions of the three-month program are likely covered by the patient’s account.
Such expenses could be challenging even for an average Filipino who may end up requiring cardiac rehabilitation, he added.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, heart disease has remained the top leading cause of death among Filipinos, he said citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“Coronary artery disease most commonly occurs when fatty lesions block your heart’s own blood vessels known as the coronary arteries. If left untreated, it can lead to chest pains, chronic heart failure, or a heart attack,” he noted.